Friday, August 8, 2014

In Tim Burton's 1992 sequel Batman Returns, the quirky director reimagined one of Batman's classic foes, with a penchant for deadly trick umbrellas, as a much more darker, grotesque adversary, with Danny DeVito playing the sinister 'Penguin'.

Original screen-used costumes and film props from 1992's Batman Returns

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of DC Comics Batman, Warner Bros. Studios VIP Tour Museum has original costumes and props from all seven movies on display, including the costume worn by Danny DeVito as 'Oswald Cobblepot' aka 'The Penguin'.

Tim Burton's take on The Penguin was less a gentleman of crime, and more that of a deformed baby abandoned to the sewers and raised by a freakshow, holding a grudge against his rich parents and the other aristocrats of Gotham City. He still retained his distinctive nose and monocle, but his hair was stringy and greasy and his hands were like flippers.

This is one of The Penguin's more distinguished Victorian-style outfits, although he's much more comfortable in filthy long johns underwear.

When his 'Red Triangle Circus' gang kidnaps corrupt business tycoon 'Maximillian Shreck' (Christopher Walken), the wealthy narcissitic mogul promises to help find The Penguin's true identity and his parents. He also devises a cunning plot to win the public approval of Gotham by faking the rescue of the Mayor's infant baby and subsequently having Oswald Cobblepot run for Mayor himself.

Original screen-used props from Batman Returns

Also on display with the costume were these fantastic props featured in the movie, including The Penguin's birth certificate, a Gotham Globe newspaper, a collection of mayoral campaign paraphernalia, plus some of the villain's rocket-wearing penguins.